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Alexander Zakharchenko
|successor1 = Dmitry Trapeznikov |office2 = Prime Minister of the Donetsk People's Republic |deputy2 = Vladimir Antyufeyev Ravil Khalikov Alexander Borodai Andrei Purgin |term_start2 = 7 August 2014 |term_end2 = 31 August 2018 |president2 = Pavel Gubarev Himself |predecessor2 = Alexander Borodai |successor2 = Dmitry Trapeznikov |birthname = Alexander Vladimirovich Zakharchenko |birth_date = |birth_place = Donetsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |alma_mater = Donetsk National Technical University |death_date = 31 August 2018 |death_place = Donetsk, Ukraine |party = Donetsk Republic |children = |allegiance = Donetsk People's Republic Novorossiya |branch = United Armed Forces of Novorossiya |rank = Major General DNR Major General LNR |commands =Oplot Battalion |battles = War in Donbass |signature = Signature of Aleksandr Zakharchenko.jpg }} Alexander Vladimirovich Zakharchenko ( , ; born 1976 New Elite Donbass: losers, traitors, romance, adventurers, puppets ... Continued, Ostrov (25 June 2014)) is a separatist leader, who is the current head of state and Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed state and a rebel group Donetsk People's Republic, which declared independence from Ukraine on 11 May 2014. Zakharchenko was appointed Prime Minister in August 2014 after his predecessor, Alexander Borodai, resigned, and went on to win the early November, 2014 election for the position. Political career Zakharchenko was born in Donetsk on 26 June 1976. He graduated from technical college and then worked as a mine electrician. He rose to prominence in April 2014 as commander of a militia, formed from members of the civic and martial arts group Oplot, that led the separatist takeover of the 11-story government headquarters in central Donetsk. On 16 May 2014 Zakharchenko was appointed 'military commandant of Donetsk'. In cabinet separatists included people close to the "regionals", Ukrayinska Pravda (16 May 2014) Since May 2014 Zakharchenko has played a major role in the insurgency against Ukraine's central government. On 24 July 2014 he was awarded the rank General Major in the DPR armed forces, shortly after he was wounded in the arm during fighting with Ukraine government forces.Ukraine crisis: Key players in eastern unrest BBC, 28 August 2014 Zakharchenko succeeded Alexander Borodai as Prime Minister on 7 August 2014. Borodai then became the DPR Deputy Prime Minister. Boroday tired of "prime minister", Ukrayinska Pravda (7 August 2014) According to Borodai, Donbass native Zakharchenko succeeded him in a Russian government effort "to try to show the West that the uprising was a grassroots phenomenon". Borodai claims he personally recommended Zakharchenko as Prime Minister.Ex-Rebel Leaders Detail Role Played by Putin Aide in East Ukraine, The New York Times (1 May 2017) In September 2014, Zakharchenko was the lead negotiator for the DPR at the Minsk Protocol, which agreed to a peace plan for the War in Donbass. At the November 2, 2014 Donetsk parliamentary elections, Zakharchenko won the prime ministership with 78.93% of the vote. In February, 2015 Zakharchenko, representing the DPR, agreed to the Minsk II peace treaty, calling it a “major victory for the Lugansk and Donetsk people’s republics.” After signing the Minsk agreements, Zakharchenko stated that should the Ukrainian authorities violate the terms of the agreements, fail to withdraw from the border or fail to release the Donetsk POWs, he would take Kharkiv and destroy the Ukrainian battalions in Debaltseve. Additionally, Zakharchenko stated that he had no intention on adhering to the ceasefire within the Debaltseve region. He was subsequently wounded in action during the closing stages of the Battle of Debaltseve. In January 2016, he described the village of Kozhevnia as "a milestone for me", saying that it was "our first offensive. Unfortunately, in the course of fighting we practically destroyed this village. By burning down houses, we saved our lives and the lives of our people." Political positions During the parliamentary election campaign Zakharchenko told potential voters that he wanted pensions to be "higher than in Poland." Zakharchenko said this was feasible because Donetsk is very rich, "like the United Arab Emirates. ... "We have coal, metallurgy, natural gas . . . The difference between us and the Emirates is they don’t have a war there and we do.”Donetsk People’s Republic campaign reveals shambolic tendencies, Financial Times (23 October 2014) Zakharchenko promised to build "a normal state, a good one, a just one. Our boys died for this, civilians are still being killed for this until now."East Ukraine separatists hold vote to gain legitimacy, promise normalcy, Reuters (30 October 2014) In an interview at the end 2016, he proclaimed that Britain must be conquered,KyivPost vol. 21, issue 50 p. 4 (9 December 2016)Zakharchenko blames Russia's plight on Anglo-Saxons, says Britain must be conquered. VIDEO (in Russian), Censor.net (6 December 2016) what would usher in a “Golden Age for Russia,” he said. Zakharchenko was in favour of the death penalty. The leader of the militants, "DNR" justifies the death penalty, Ukrayinska Pravda (25 February 2016) Assassination Zakharchenko was assassinated using a bomb hidden in the café "Separ" in Donetsk on August 31, 2018. His death sparked speculation by Russia, the DNR and LPR that Zakharchenko was killed by a Ukrainian death order, while Ukraine and Western powers claimed his death to be caused by local strife, or he was killed by an order from the Kremlin. Dmitry Trapeznikov was placed acting head of Novorossiya and was soon replaced by Denis Pushilin. Human rights abuses During the War in Donbass there had been many cases of forced disappearances on the territory of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic. Zakharchenko said that his forces detained up to five "Ukrainian subversives" each day. It was estimated that about 632 people were under illegal detention by separatist forces on 11 December 2014. On June 2, 2017 the freelance journalist Stanislav Aseyev was abducted. Firstly the de facto DNR government denied knowing his whereabouts but on July 16, an agent of the DNR's "Ministry of State Security" confirmed that Aseyev was in their custody and that he is suspected of "espionage". Independent media is not allowed to report from the "DNR"-controlled territory. Personal life Zakharchenko had a wife Natalia, and four sons. On July 30, 2015, his fourth son Alexander was born. References Category:1976 births Category:2018 deaths Category:People from Donetsk Category:People of the Donetsk People's Republic Category:Pro-Russian people of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine Category:Pro-Russian people of the war in Donbass Category:Russian nationalists Category:Heroes of the Donetsk People's Republic Category:People of Antimaidan Category:Assassinated heads of state